Australian Federal Court orders ISPs to identify those who illegally shared Dallas Buyers Club

Federal Court has ordered iiNet and several other internet service providers to hand over the identities of thousands of Australians who used an internet connection to share Dallas Buyers Club.

As a result, ‘pirates’ who shared the film are likely to receive letters threatening legal action from Dallas Buyers Club LLC, which owns the rights to the film.

However, Justice Perram ordered that such letters must first be seen by him to prevent ‘speculative invoicing’ and that Dallas Buyers Club LLC must not disclose the identities of the ‘pirates’.

During the case, iiNet argued that some people could be incorrectly identified as alleged infringers in scenarios where they share accommodation.

Lawyers for Dallas Buyers Club LLC argued that Australia has one of the highest rates of unauthorised downloading in the world and that this “is a first step from a copyright owner to try to change that balance”.

The landmark ruling paves the way for Hollywood to sue Australians who illegally share movies and TV shows online.

In addition to iiNet, Dodo, Adam Internet, Amnet Broadband, Wideband Networks and Internode are also required to comply with the orders of the Federal Court.

The internet service providers have 28 days to lodge an appeal to this decision.